|
Chef2Chef Recipe Club - Volume 5 Issue 113 - December 3, 2003 Chef2Chef Recipe Club Member Forum: http://forums.chef2chef.net -------------------------------------------------- Hello Recipe Club, Here are three spectacular desserts you might like to choose from for that fabulous holiday dinner party you have planned. All three can be made ahead and take little time in the kitchen before serving. One major secret to really great desserts is choosing top quality ingredients. If you can't find anything else, supermarket chocolate is okay. However, most folks I know plan special dinners well ahead. These days with the speed and access of the Internet, you can easily have fine chocolate to bake with even if you live in a remote town. My favorite chocolates for the desserts they apply to are Nestle, Peter Burgundy, Valrhona, Scharffenberger, or Guittard. When choosing white chocolate, make sure you select one that has cocoa butter in it. It will be a creamy color, as opposed to those without cocoa butter, which will be stark white. Chef June Jacobs, CCP -------------------------------------------------- Got a Passion for Cooking or know someone who does? Make it your Career! Shop and compare TOP US Culinary Institutes that offer Financial Aid and Job Placement. Request Information today and get your Career cooking in just 15 months! Chef2Chef.Net/Culinary-Institute -------------------------------------------------- Chocolate Truffle Cake This cake is a marvelous one to have in your repertoire because it takes no longer to make two or three than it does to make one! It's a good idea to make multiples since not only is it utterly delicious, but you can keep it (when properly wrapped) up to 6 months in your freezer. [I know this is so because I "found" one in my freezer after that long, and served it most successfully. Makes 8 servings 16 ounces best quality semisweet chocolate 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 1/2 teaspoons flour 1 teaspoon hot water 4 large eggs, separated 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar Whipped cream for topping Unsweetened cocoa for topping 1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease the bottom (only) of an 8-inch springform pan. 2. Melt chocolate and butter in the top of double boiler over simmering water. When melted, transfer into a bowl, and add flour, water and blend well. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating after each addition. 3. Beat egg whites until very frothy. Add the sugar and continue beating until they are stiff and shiny, but not dry. Fold into the chocolate mixture. 4. Pour into pan and bake for 15 minutes, ONLY! The cake will look very undone in the center. To serve: Cool the cake thoroughly. (Overnight in the fridge is best.) Whip cream until soft peaks form. Spread a very thick layer over top of cake, smoothing with spatula. Shake unsweetened cocoa through a sieve over the whipped cream. Use a doily to make a design on the whipped cream if you wish. Cut the cake while cold, but let it stand at room temperature for about 15 minutes before serving. -------------------------------------------------- Recipe Club, Get your own Holiday Presents at Chef2Chef.net Win a 6-month Salsa Kiss Club of the Month Membership valued at $150! That's one specially selected free salsa and one free gourmet hot sauce every month for 6 months delivered to your door. http://html.chef2chef.net/goto.php?id=374 Register to a copy of the Chef of the Month, Jerry Traunfeld's cookbook, The Herbfarm Cookbook. A must have for your cookbook collection http://marketplace.chef2chef.net/sweep/ What's new at Chef Revival? They have got a new handy and cleanable First Aid Kit, A New Drizzler Kit, The Famous CutRuler, A beautiful new Line Spoon and the "Got to Have" Bonetector! !0 winner's will each receive a set of all of these new items. Register http://ads.chef2Chef.net/goto.php?id=36 Sign up for a FREE Subscription to Food Arts Magazine. The Magazine for the Foodservice and Hospitality Industry. U.S. residents only. http://html.chef2chef.net/goto.php?id=242 -------------------------------------------------- Cranberry Crème Brulée Here's a Native American twist to a classic French dessert. Massachusetts, where I lived for 11 years, is cranberry country. In the fall, when they're harvested, local cooks use cranberries for lots more than just sauce to go with the Thanksgiving bird. Here, their crunchy tartness is a delicious counterpoint to the smooth, sweet custard. This recipe won me a "Best of State" award in Martini and Rossi's 1992 "State of Dessert" contest for professional chefs. Makes 6 servings 4 cups heavy cream (preferably not ultra-pasteurized) 1/2 vanilla bean 8 large egg yolks 1/2 cup cane sugar 1 1/2 cups whole cranberry sauce (recipe follows) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Pour the cream into a medium-size saucepan. Using a sharp knife, slit the vanilla bean half lengthwise. Scrape the insides into the pan, along with the shell of the bean. Bring to a boil over high heat. Remove and set aside for 15 minutes. Remove the bean and discard. Meanwhile, place the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and beat until blended. Add the cream and vanilla mixture and mix well. Place 6 shallow, oval gratin dishes, about 4 or 5 inches long, in a baking dish. Pour the custard into the dishes. Add enough hot water to the baking dish to reach halfway up the sides of the gratin dishes. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the cream sets but does not brown. Remove the gratins and place them, uncovered, in the refrigerator for an hour (at least). [The recipe can be made ahead up to this point and refrigerated overnight.] Before serving, preheat broiler to maximum temperature. Set the oven rack within 1 to 1 1/2 inches from the element. Evenly spread about 1/4 cup of cranberry sauce on each custard. Sprinkle the top of each gratin dish with sugar. Place on a tray and slide under the hot broiler until topping is caramelized and crispy (about 7 minutes). Better still, buy yourself a small blow torch, and caramelize your Brulée the way the pros do. It's a much more efficient way to make sure you have an evenly browned crust. Teacher's Tip: When heating the cream, bring it to a boil, but do not let it continue to cook for any length of time. Remove it from the heat as soon as a genuine boil (bubbles all over the surface) is achieved. Cranberry Sauce: 3/4 cup cane sugar 1 cup cold water 1/4 cup orange juice concentrate 12 ounces fresh whole cranberries 1. In a non-reactive saucepan, combine sugar, orange juice concentrate and water. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Bring to the boil. Add cranberries, and return mixture to the boil. Simmer gently for about 12 minutes. 2. Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature. Chill. Makes about 2 1/4 cups. (You won't need all of it for the custards.) -------------------------------------------------- The Great Gourmet Savor the sweet, succulent taste of fresh and frozen seafood shipped straight from the boat to you next day. From Surf & Turf, Maryland Crabs, Chowders, Breaded Seafood and Fish caught straight out of the ocean only hours before we ship, you won't find any seafood fresher. With over 275 items available on TheGreatGourmet.com you won't need to go any further to find the product that you are looking for. If we don't carry an item you want, we will find it for you. The Great Gourmet sells both direct to the customer's door and wholesale. With the growing cost of seafood we want our customers across the nation to be able to afford the wonderful products that we sell and the only way to do that is by giving the best price that we can. For the seafood lover - we want your business but more than that, we want your friendship. Consider giving Gift Certificates or Gift Baskets to those you love for the holidays you may reach us at 1-877-600-FISH. http://html.chef2chef.net/goto.php?id=371 -------------------------------------------------- Day and Night Chocolate Mousse This dessert is unbearably spectacular when you make it well ahead and pipe it into those enormous wine glasses! One side of the glass is white, the other side dark, and then at the last minute, you crown it with the luscious, pale beige Mocha Whipped Cream. Top with some bittersweet chocolate curls for a total triumph! ([Of course, if you don't have time, either mousse is delicious on its own!) Makes 12 servings Chocolate Mousse 1/2 pound bittersweet chocolate 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder 1/3 cup boiling water 5 extra large eggs, separated Pinch of fine sea salt 1. Break up the chocolate into a small, heavy saucepan. Dissolve the espresso powder in the boiling water and pour it over the chocolate. Place over low heat and stir occasionally with a small wire whisk until mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and set aside to cool for about 5 minutes. 2. In the small bowl of an electric mixer at high speed, beat the egg yolks for 3 or 4 minutes until pale, lemon-yellow colored. Reduce speed and gradually add the slightly warm chocolate mixture, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula and beating only until smooth. Remove from mixer. 3. Add the salt to the whites and beat until they hold a definite shape but are not dry. Without being too thorough, gently fold about 1/4 of the beaten whites into the chocolate mixture, then fold in a second 1/4, and finally, fold the remaining whites into the chocolate, folding only until no whites show. 4. Chill the mousse about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until it is firm enough to put into a pastry tube fitted with a plain tip. White Chocolate Mousse 6 ounces white chocolate 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, ice cold 1/4 cup confectioners sugar 8 egg whites, room temperature 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar 1/4 cup cane sugar 2 tablespoons heavy cream 1. Slowly melt the chocolate in a double boiler over "shimmering" water. When melted, remove the chocolate from the heat. Whip 1 1/2 cups of cream until soft peaks form. Then add the confectioners sugar and whip until stiff peaks form. Whip the egg whites in a bowl with cream of tartar, gradually adding the granulated sugar until stiff peaks form. Do not overbeat. 2. Cool the melted chocolate slightly. (This should happen naturally after it is removed from heat.) Add the 2 tablespoons heavy cream to the chocolate to achieve a pouring consistency. Slowly add the chocolate to the whipped cream. Fold in gently. Then fold the egg whites and chocolate/cream mixture together gently. Chill about 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until it is firm enough to put into a pastry tube. Pipe the 2 mousses into large wine glasses one at a time, white first, tipping the glass to fill up one side. Continue tipping the glass as you pipe in the dark mousse, or the white will go to the bottom, and the side by side effect will be ruined. The mousse can be topped and served now, soft, or chilled until ready to serve. Top with Mocha Whipped Cream. Mocha Whipped Cream 1 cup heavy cream 1 tablespoon espresso powder 1/4 cup confectioners sugar In a chilled bowl with chilled beaters, beat the heavy cream only until it begins to thicken. Add sugar and espresso powder and beat to the consistency of a heavy custard sauce, not stiff. Pour or spoon onto desserts to completely cover tops. -------------------------------------------------- QUESTIONS, Comments, Technical Support: http://forums.chef2chef.net |